briefs

Night flying and bad weather seem to go with drinking and flying, a Johns Hopkins study has determined. Yes, badly. Researchers found that most crashes (52 percent) involving imbibing pilots (that’s about one in 200 pilots, according to testing done by the airlines) occurred at night and that in 64 percent of the alcohol-related crashes, […]

A consortium led by an obscure British Columbia company has beaten Bombardier for one of the juiciest contracts ever tendered by the Canadian government. And Bombardier isn’t taking it very well. Allied Wings, led by Kelowna Flightcraft, of Kelowna, B.C. (about 200 miles east of Vancouver) was awarded a 22-year, $1.77 billion (CAD) contract to […]

A Texas judge has signed a $96 million jury award against Lycoming stemming from the failure of about two dozen crankshafts in higher-powered six-cylinder engines. Judge Jerry Sandel awarded the full amount of the jury’s recommended award to Navasota-based Interstate Southwest, which made the crankshaft castings for those engines. The seven-week trial ended in mid-February. […]

Those who use a tiny airport in Florida have found that the little guy sometimes wins and that not all mega-corporations are single-mindedly profit-driven. Operators of Quest Air Soaring Center in Groveland, Fla., were both surprised and appalled earlier this year when Progress Energy put up a 90-foot power pole less than 100 feet from […]

Western Africa may not be the first place most pilots consider for a tourist destination, but the government of Ghana is working to change that. The country hosted its first annual Hang Paragliding festival over the weekend. About 21 pilots flew in the Kwahu-Atibie Mountains in the country’s eastern region, where tourism officials hope to […]

The FAA has announced its national General Aviation Awards for this year, honoring aviation professionals for their contributions to safety and education. Recognized for this year are John Teipen, of Missouri, CFI of the Year; Michael Church, of California, Aviation Safety Counselor of the Year; Michael Branham, of Arkansas, Aviation Maintenance Technician of the Year; […]

A new event set for June 2-5 in Tunica, Miss., aims to bring Reno-style pylon air racing to the eastern half of the country. Veteran Reno racer Steve Dilda has been named air boss for the Tunica Air Races. So far, the organizers expect to offer competitions for Unlimited Class, T-6 Class and Formula One […]

The FAA has delayed by one year the date that its final rule will take effect requiring all aviation repair stations to have an approved training program. The new effective date of Section 145.163 will be April 6, 2006. The delay was necessary, the FAA said, because it had extended the comment period on its […]

Adam Aircraft was conducting hot-weather testing of its A500 twin-prop at Fort Myers, Fla., on March 16 when the airplane experienced a left main gear retraction during landing rollout. There were no injuries and minimal damage to the aircraft’s left wingtip and tail boom. The FAA OK’d the airplane to fly home to Colorado two […]

The center of gravity was well forward of the allowable limit in a Bombardier Challenger CL-600 corporate jet that crashed last month in Teterboro, the NTSB said in an update released last week. A simulator programmed with the aircraft’s takeoff trim settings and weight and balance would not rotate for takeoff at the defined rotation […]